Bangalore police to issue safety guidelines for schools today

The Bangalore Police will issue a set of guidelines to all schools to ensure the safety and security of children in the wake of the rape of a six-year-old student at Vibgyor High.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on Sunday, Police Commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar said: “The DCPs will hold a meeting with authorities of schools in their jurisdiction on Monday. A set of eight to 10 guidelines to be followed by the institutions will be handed over to the managements. We cannot hold this meeting with all the schools at the same time. So, we will proceed in a phased manner.”

Auradkar explained that the guidelines consist of measures such as installing CCTV cameras in schools, conducting background checks of the school staff, not leaving children alone or with unauthorised persons, and segregation of children of higher and lower classes.

According to sources, the guidelines have been formed by the Home department and sent to the City police and department of education. The guidelines also mention that police should inspect schools in their jurisdiction once a month. These guidelines will be applicable to all orphanages too, the sources said.

Meanwhile, at an event held at Freedom Park here on Sunday to protest against the recent incidents of rapes, Auradkar announced another measure to ensure safety of citizens. People can send videos, messages, pictures and voice recordings to the City police control room to report any offence using WhatsApp, a mobile application.

This facility will be made available to the public by next week, the Commissioner said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Win Bangalore Back, a Facebook group, Auradkar promised strictest action against the accused in the recent rape incidents.

In an interactive session at the event, a number of issues such as the rude behaviour of policemen, the language gap between policemen and citizens as well as deploying students as volunteers were discussed. The top cop promised to consider the demands.